Just a Little Controversy

When people ask me to describe the biggest difference between Columbia, where I spent my freshman year, and Harvard, to which I recently transferred, I usually mumble something boring like “Harvard students seem more ambitious than Columbia students.”

As of a few weeks ago, however, my answer changed to: “At Columbia, students rush the stage during guest speaker events, leading to national controversies about freedom of speech and the ‘liberal bias’ on college campuses. That doesn’t seem to happen so much at Harvard.”

And I’m sure everyone’s thankful for that. On Oct. 4, Columbia student protesters rushed the stage during a speech by Jim Gilchrist, the founder of the Minuteman Project. The ensuing fistfight prevented Gilchrist from even starting his speech. It was an embarrassment to Columbia’s administration and the entire student body.

The Minutemen’s trademark practice of sending vigilante groups to patrol the U.S.-Mexico border is certainly abhorrent; they propagate an unpleasent anti-immigration message. Still, a guest invited by a university group should be allowed to exercise his right to free speech without being physically assaulted.

At Harvard, it seems that such incidents are very rare. I haven’t seen any dramatic anti-war protests or angry animal rights sit-ins. Most of the students I have spoken to have fairly well thought-out, left-of-center opinions—the kind that would fit right into the political platforms of most popular American politicians. Harvard is characterized by its calm and rational, albeit mildly careerist, discourse.

In the days following the incident at Columbia, I was surprised at my friends who had participated in the brawl. I was frustrated with the Columbia administration’s bumbling response. And I was annoyed by all the attention Bill O’Reilly was giving the issue—the head of the College Republicans appeared on “The O’Reilly Factor” soon after the incident, condemning the “liberal bias” at Columbia.

Still, something about all the attention Columbia was receiving from angry politicians and irate pundits made me strangely nostalgic.

Because political controversy is not inherently bad; it can rouse intelligent debate and provoke people to question their priorities and beliefs. Even as the Columbia administration has been hanging its head in shame, the pages of the Columbia Spectator have been full of insightful opinion pieces on issues ranging from the meaning of free speech, to the role of political opinion in the classroom, to the appropriateness of civil disobedience.

The problem is that violence was used to this end. When the Columbia protestors did that, they crossed the line.

But this is where Harvard students can find a middle ground. A little controversy can go a long way towards reinvigorating stale political issues, as long as no one gets a black eye.

So maybe it’s time to forget about that future Senate candidacy and chain yourself to a tree in Harvard Yard to protest globalization, stage a silent vigil in honor of the anniversary of some obscure labor revolt, even organize a sit-in in front of Leverett to protest the abuse of rabbits.

Just try not to let Bill O’Reilly find out.



Jacob M. Victor ’09, a Crimson editorial comper, is a social studies concentrator in Leverett House.